Woody Woodgate
In Your Mind
(DW Records)
Successful solo albums by drummers are a small subset in the great Venn diagram of pop, so congratulations are due to the sticksman of Madness for that achievement alone. But In Your Mind, in some senses a follow-up to his Magic Brothers album with his brother Nick two years ago, is much more, and possibly this summer's ideal accompaniment for a road trip to Troon or North Berwick with the top down. This Londoner, naturally, heads to Brighton on one track, in another set suffused with family memories and spiced with interludes that acknowledge his musical past. Woodgate has made contributions to the Madness back catalogue over the years, but these songs are very different - small shiny statements that never over stay their welcome, miniatures that suggest he'd be a very rigorous and useful record producer.
Recognisably in a tradition that includes The Beatles and Squeeze as well as his own band - and nods to more left field talents like Kevin Ayers, on Flower - Woodgate is not scared to recycle over-familiar titles as well as musical tropes.. Yet this remains a very personal album, with things to say about Nick's precarious mental state as well as the joys of a trip to the beach.
Keith Bruce
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